GARY | While the parking lot at IUN is expected to be clear by today, things may not get back to normal for weeks as the university recovers from flooding due to last week's storms.

Michelle Searer, marketing director for Indiana University Northwest, said the basement of the campus's Moraine Student Center was covered in 21 inches of water. The building was closed because its electrical panels are in the basement.

This forced the offices and services located in the student center to be relocated. Cafeteria services were moved to the connecting Savanna Center, where a makeshift cafeteria is now operating.

The student credit union has moved to the bursar's office in Hawthorne Hall. The office of student services was moved across campus to the third floor of Lindenwood Hall. The school's newspaper and literary magazine have found temporary homes in Savanna Center as well.

Searer says Moraine could remain closed as long as two more weeks.

Water cannot be pumped out of the basement and repairs made until flooding in the school's North Parking Lot No. 2 is cleared. The parking lot, located at the corner of Broadway and 33rd Avenue, was covered in water, causing a lack of parking on campus.

The school was using shuttle buses, but by Wednesday afternoon enough parking spaces were reclaimed to make the shuttle buses unnecessary.

"The parking lot is almost fully open," Searer said Thursday afternoon. "I can tell you that there are just about 20 spaces that are not available because they are still pumping water out. So, there are about 600 spaces that are now open."

Once the floodwater is removed from the parking lot, the water in Moraine's basement will be pumped out into the parking lot, where it hopefully will go into storm drains, Searer said. When the water is removed, an assessment of damage will be made.

Searer predicts the parking lot will be completely clear by today.

Also flooded were the first floors of Lindenwood and Sycamore halls. The offices affected by the flooding have been moved to other floors in their respective buildings. While the floodwaters have been removed from those buildings, it is estimated that it will be up to a month before they are fully functional again, depending on the extent of the damages, which have yet to be assessed.